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News you may have missed #0081

August 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Russians arrest “spies” at air show. The FSB says it uncovered two Dutch spies at the MAKS 2009 aviation and space show in Moscow.
Interview with Israeli intelligence minister. Dan Meridor gave a rare interview to German magazine Der Spiegel, saying he doesn’t “want to get into details” about rumors that Israel is considering bombing Iran.
Karadzic asks for French intelligence documents. Karadzic claims France has documents confirming that the USA and several Muslim countries supplied weapons to the army of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s, despite an international embargo.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian War, counterintelligence, Dan Meridor, France, FSB, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Israel, MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon, Moscow (Russia), Netherlands, News, news you may have missed, Radovan Karadzic, Russia, United States, weapons trade

Israeli secret agents guarding Palestinian President, Prime Minister

August 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Mahmoud Abbas

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Israeli agents of Shin Bet are guarding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on their trips around some parts of the West Bank, Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz revealed last week. The report comes days after jeeps with agents from the VIP security unit of Israel’s secret service were observed escorting Abbas during his visits to Palestinian villages located in so-called “Area C”, a region of the West Bank that continues to remain under Israeli control, in accordance with the 1993 Oslo Accords. Both Palestinian and Israeli officials have confirmed this peculiar arrangement, which is bound to add to the animosity between the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government said that the same procedures are in effect when foreign officials visit Area C, and that it guards the Palestinian Authority President whenever he visits Israel.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 1993 Oslo Accords, Area C (West Bank), Fatah, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, News, Palestine, Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, Shin Bet, West Bank

News you may have missed #0076

August 22, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Australia’s domestic spy agency considers FBI model. There are reports that Australia’s domestic spy agency could be expanded to become more like its US counterpart, the FBI.
Weapons manufacturers planted spy on Swiss anti-military group. The Group for Switzerland without an Army, a campaign group calling for Switzerland to disband its military, has accused the weapons industry of planting a spy within its membership.
Retired Lebanese security official “confesses” to spying for Israel. Lebanon’s counterespionage operations continue after Mahmoud Qassem Rafeh, a 62-year-old retired Internal Security Forces official, has allegedly confessed to having “collaborated with Israeli intelligence agents” between 1993 and 2006.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Alam spy ring, ASIO, Australia, corporate espionage, domestic intelligence, espionage, FBI, ISF (Lebanon), Israel, Lebanon, Mahmoud Qassem Rafeh, News, news you may have missed, Switzerland, The Group for Switzerland without an Army, United States, weapons trade

Israel, Azerbaijan, tight-lipped on rumored reconnaissance deal

August 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ilham Aliyev

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Israeli and Azerbaijani governments are apparently keeping quiet about rumored plans to jointly manufacture unmanned drone aircraft and spy satellites. Representatives of Israel’s reconnaissance and aeronautics industry were among dozens of Israeli business leaders who joined last June’s state visit to Azerbaijan by Isarel’s President Shimon Peres. It was the first-ever visit to the Caspian Sea state by an Israeli head of state. Soon after the end of the visit, there were rumors in the Israeli press that Tel Aviv had managed to convince Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, after four years of negotiations, to approve the construction of a manufacturing plant in Azerbaijan that will construct unmanned drone surveillance aircraft. Moreover, Israel was said to have agreed to help Azerbaijan construct a TecSAR all-weather satellite reconnaissance system. Azerbaijan, which borders with Russia, Iran, Armenia and Georgia, is one of the few predominantly Muslim countries that maintain bilateral relations with Israel.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with aerial reconnaissance, Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea, energy resources, Ilham Aliyev, Israel, News, satellite reconnaissance, Shimon Peres, TecSAR

News you may have missed #0070

August 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Sudan president replaces intelligence chief. Salah Gosh, who has ruled Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Services since 2002, has been fired in a surprise move.
Pakistan’s former spy chief blames US for Afghan drugs. Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, the outspoken former Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, has charged the US with responsibility for the Afghan drug trade.
Lebanese minister denies link with Israeli ISP. Lebanon’s telecommunications minister Gibran Bassil has denied allegations that his party was linked to an Internet service provider recently found to have connections to Israel.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, Gibran Bassil, Hamid Gul, Internet, ISI, Israel, Lebanon, narcotics trade, National Security and Intelligence Services (Sudan), News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Salah Gosh, Sudan, war on drugs

Russians helped Lebanon bust Israeli spy ring, claims site

August 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

FSB agent

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Israeli website DEBKAfile claims that the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) is the primary counterintelligence force behind the busting of the Al-Alam spy ring in Lebanon, which intelNews has been monitoring since February, when it first erupted. The website, known for its contacts with intelligence circles, says that it was Russian, not French, surveillance technology that helped uncover the spy ring. The article cites “Western intelligence sources in the Middle East”, who apparently revealed that a specialist FSB unit was commissioned by Hezbollah, the Shia Islamic political and paramilitary organization that controls large parts of Lebanon, to root out the massive spy ring. The unit then proceeded to do so “with the help of super-efficient detection systems”, DEBKAfile claims. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Alam spy ring, counterintelligence, espionage, FSB, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanese Internal Security Forces, Lebanon, News, Russia

Newspaper publishes names of suspected Israeli spy ring members

August 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

As-Safir

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A Lebanese newspaper has published the names of 22 Arabs arrested in conjunction with the Al-Alam spy ring affair, which intelNews has been monitoring since February, when it first erupted. The catalogue, aired by As-Safir newspaper, contains the arrestees’ address and employment details, and includes photographs of three of the suspects. Over 70 individuals have so far been arrested in connection with the Al-Alam spy ring, which Lebanese authorities allege was operated by Israel and operated predominantly in southern Lebanon. Detained suspects include two Palestinians, one Egyptian, and at least 37 Lebanese citizens, one of whom was a retired brigadier. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Alam spy ring, As-Safir (newspaper), counterintelligence, espionage, Gaza Strip, Israel, Lebanon, News, Palestine, West Bank

Ex-DoD analyst accused of spying says he was FBI double spy

July 31, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Larry Franklin

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Lawrence Anthony Franklin, the former US Defense Department analyst whose 12-year prison sentence was suspended last month, now claims he was an FBI informant in a case of alleged spying by the pro-Israeli lobby in Washington. Franklin was accused by the US government of handing classified military information to Uzi Arad, Naor Gilon, an Israeli Embassy official in Washington, as well as to Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, both lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Besides Franklin, Rosen and Weissman were also taken to court by the FBI. Last May, however, US Justice Department prosecutors dropped all charges against the two former AIPAC members. It was just a matter of time before Franklin’s sentence was also suspended. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with AIPAC, CBS News, eavesdropping, FBI, informants, Israel, Israeli embassy in the US, John Miller, Keith Weissman, Lawrence Anthony Franklin, lawsuits, Naor Gilon, News, Steve Rosen, United States, US Department of Justice, US DoD, Uzi Arad

News you may have missed #0040

July 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Top court scolds German government over spy secrecy. Angela Merkel’s government has been rebuked by Germany’s most senior court for withholding information from a parliamentary inquiry into the role of Germany’s intelligence service (BND) in the detention of two Muslims from Germany at a US prison in Afghanistan.
Man implicated in Israeli spy affair says US government “tainted by anti-Semitism”. Larry Franklin, the former Defense Department analyst accused by the US government of handing classified US military information to two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists, has told Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz that “some of the agencies of the US administration, and in particular the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are tainted by anti-Semitism”.
Defense contractors preparing private cyberwarriors? US Defense contractors such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and others, are moving into the lucrative realm of cyberwarfare.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, AIPAC, BND, cyberwar, defense industry, espionage, FBI, German Muslims, Germany, Israel, Lawrence Anthony Franklin, News, news you may have missed, United States

News you may have missed #0035

July 22, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ex-Peruvian president sentenced for bribing spy chief. Peru’s former President, Alberto Fujimori, has been given a 7.5 years prison sentence for giving his right-hand man, spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, $15 million from government coffers.
Was there ever a CIA interrogation facility in Thailand? CIA records indicate that waterboarding was practiced by US government agents in secret detention facilities in Thailand. Thailand’s Prime Minister says there is no secret CIA detention center for suspected terrorists under his government. But could a facility have been there under the previous government?
“Adoptive father” of Israeli intelligence pioneered the “honey trap”. Meir Amit, who revolutionized Israeli intelligence in the 1960s, and has died at the age of 88, pioneered the use of female agents to gain access to classified information, says an Israeli intelligence history author.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alberto Fujimori, CIA, honey traps, Israel, Meir Amit, News, news you may have missed, Peru, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional (Peru), Thailand, torture, Vladimiro Montesinos, waterboarding

News you may have missed #0034

July 21, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Busting of Israeli spy ring in Lebanon continues. Lebanese authorities have announced the arrest of yet another suspected member of Mossad’s alleged spy ring in southern Lebanon.
Secret space shuttles. Excellent primer on the longstanding secret collaboration between NASA and the super-clandestine National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the United States.
Israelis jail man accused of joining Palestinian intelligence. An Israeli court has jailed Muhammad Jayusi for 42 months for being a member of the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence (GI), for “tailing Israeli citizens and [for] transmitting information on them” to GI.
Will Obama administration end the over-classification of US defense information? Pentagon classification authorities are treating classified historical documents as if they contain today’s secrets, rather than decades-old information that has not been secret for years, says the National Security Archive.
What did CIA director Panetta tell Philippine President Arroyo? Writing from the Philippines, Ramon Farolan says Leon Panetta did not go to Manila on a “social visit. CIA directors don’t make social visits to any place, and frankly, I can’t recall any CIA director ever visiting the Philippines”, he says. IntelNews has covered Panetta’s recent trip to the Philippines here.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, declassification, General Intelligence (Palestinian National Authority), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, informants, Israel, Leon Panetta, Muhammad Jayusi, NASA, News, news you may have missed, NRO, Obama Administration, Palestinian National Authority, Pentagon, Philippines, United States

News you may have missed #0033

July 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

China says US media exaggerates Chinese espionage threat. China’s state-owned People’s Daily newspaper dismisses claims that there are over 3,500 Chinese spy operatives currently in the US. Chinese authorities have also dismissed as fabrication the espionage charges in the US against former Boeing engineer Dongfan “Greg” Chung.
“Adoptive father” of Israeli intelligence dies. Meir Amit, who revolutionized Israeli intelligence in the 1960s, has died at the age of 88.
China to drop espionage charges in Rio Tinto case. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says Beijing is “not interested in what we would regard as espionage” in the Rio Tinto case.
New books on MI5, NSA, reviewed. Writing for The Washington Times, Joseph Goulden reviews Chapman Pincher’s Treachery (on whether MI5 head Sir Roger Hollis was a Soviet agent) and Matthew Aid’s Secret Sentry: The Untold Story of the NSA, which intelNews first mentioned here.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, Boeing Corporation, book news and reviews, China, Dongfan Chung, espionage, Greg Chung, Israel, Matthew M. Aid, Meir Amit, MI5, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Rio Tinto, Sir Roger Hollis, Stephen Smith, Stern Hu, UK, United States

Internal war breaks out in Israel’s Foreign Ministry

July 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Lieberman

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A major quarrel appears to have broken out in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, after an Israeli Russian-language website accused Israeli embassies abroad of being “fertile ground for orgies, sex with minors, sexual harassment and bribery” cases, which are “being hidden from the public”. It was the latest installment in a series of articles by IzRus, one of the most popular Israeli foreign-language websites, which has also accused the Israeli foreign service of favoring a policy of discrimination against foreign-born Israeli citizens in its internal promotion structures. Several Foreign Ministry insiders consider IzRus to be the informal mouthpiece of the country’s new Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman. The website is edited by Michael Falkov, who was Lieberman’s public relations advisor in 2003 and 2004. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Avigdor Lieberman, Egypt, Israel, Israeli embassy in Egypt, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IzRus, Michael Falkov, News, Russian Jews, Shaul Kamisa, Yossi Gal

News you may have missed #0027

July 14, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Former KGB captain still fighting deportation from Canada. IntelNews has been keeping an eye on the case of Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, whose deportation from Canada has been ordered by a court. Lennikov, a former KGB captain, claims that if deported back to Russia he will be treated as a defector by the FSB. IntelNews has also learned that Lennikov now maintains a public blog, which he updates daily.
New book claims Errol Flynn worked as a Nazi spy. The Australian-born star, who became a Hollywood legend in the 1930s, was known for his anti-Semitic views. But now a new book claims that declassified CIA files prove Flynn collaborated with German Nazi intelligence in gathering information on German socialists who fought in the Spanish Civil War.
Iranian spying allegations nonsensical, says France. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that Tehran’s claims that 23-year-old French student Clotilde Reiss was a spy in Iran are “stupid”. “Do you think my country would be so naive and shorthanded as to send a 23-year-old woman to spy in Iran? That’s stupid, it’s not possible”, said Mr. Kuchner during a visit to Lebanon.
Interesting account of Israel’s only spy history memorial. Matti Friedman, of The Associated Press, has written an interesting account of the little known Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center in Tel Aviv.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bernard Kouchner, Canada, Clotilde Reiss, deportations, Errol Flynn, France, history, informants, Iran, Israel, Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, KGB, Mikhail Alexander Lennikov, Mossad, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Tel Aviv

Secret CIA program involved assassinations of suspects

July 13, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

CIA HQ

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Quoting “three former intelligence officials” The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the secret CIA program, which recently alarmed Congress, involved summary killings and assassinations of al-Qaeda operatives. Although the plan’s details remain highly classified, it appears that the CIA sought to set up specialized assassination squads, staffed with US Special Forces personnel, in an attempt to copy the Israeli Mossad Operation Wrath of God (also known as Operation Bayonet) of the 1970s. Wrath of God, which involved targeted assassinations of individuals allegedly behind the 1972 Munich massacre, was described by Canadian journalist George Jonas in his 1984 book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team, which also formed the basis for Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film Munich. The Wall Street Journal quotes an anonymous former US intelligence official who describes the CIA plan as coming “straight out of the movies […]. It was like: Let’s kill them all”. Read more of this post